Nielsen Releases New Data About the Media Habits of Millennials
From a Nielsen Blog Post:
…according to Nielsen’s Q4 2015 Total Audience Report, Millennials’ don’t have a uniform media palate. Their lives are in rapid transition as they finish their educations, join the workforce, move into their own homes and start families. And how they connect and what they connect with follows suit.
The report broke Millennials into three life stage groups and found true in media preferences and device penetrations within each. The life stages are:
- Dependent Adults (living in someone else’s home)
- On Their Own (living in their own home without children) and
- Starting a Family (living in their own home with children)
For instance, 97% of 18-year olds live in someone else’s home, primarily with a parent or parents. Conversely, 90% of 34-year olds live in their own home and 60% of this particular age demo do so with children.
[Clip]
Much has been made about Millennials turning their collective gaze toward PCs, tablets and smartphones, but the report noted that, like other media habits, digital consumption depends on life stage. While tablet ownership is lowest among On Their Own Millennials, this group actually used all three devices significantly more than the other two groups during the month of November 2015.
Overall, On Their Own Millennials spent more than 94 hours using these devices in November 2015—about 10 more hours than all 18-34 year olds and about 18 more hours than Dependent Adults. Conversely, Dependent Adult Millennials tie the other life stages for the highest penetration of PCs but have the lowest usage.
Read the Complete Blog Post, View Chart
More From Q4 Total Media Report: Chart and Analysis: “Live TV Viewing and TV-Connected Device Usage
Note: A link to obtain a free copy of the complete Total Media Report is available (blue box on right of this page). You will need to register.
Filed under: Data Files, News

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.